Being a government with a large Commons majority isn’t meant to be like this.
The prime minister should, within reason, be able to d what he wants and be confident that most MPs will support him.
The fact that he can’t - as the government’s numerous U-turns on his watch proves - demonstrates the fundamental weakness of Johnson’s position, and why Tory MPs are agonising over whether or not to dump him.
His latest climbdown is a classic of the genre.
Last night, Tory MPs were told that they were on a three-line whip (meaning they must vote with the government or be disciplined) to support an attempt to wreck Labour’s bid to force a privileges committee probe into whether the PM misled parliament over partygate.
The government position was that any decision should not be taken until after the police had finished their investigations and Sue Gray has finally published her full report into the affair.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was even sent out this morning to defend the government’s position on TV and radio.
But at 11.15am - just 15 minutes before the Commons was to start debating the matter - Number 10 confirmed that they were withdrawing their amendment to Labour’s motion and giving their MPs a free vote.
Stretching credulity to breaking point, a spokesman for Johnson said: “The prime minister has always been clear that he’s happy to face whatever inquiries parliament sees fit and is happy for the House to decide how it wishes to proceed today and therefore will not be whipping Conservative MP’s.
“They are free to vote according to how they believe we should move forward on this.
“We tabled an amendment last night because we wanted to be explicit about ensuring Sue Gray is able to complete and publish her report without any further delay, as well as allow the Metropolitan Police to conclude their investigations.
“We now recognise that – in practice – this is almost certainly likely to be the case and therefore we are happy for the Labour motion to go through if that is the will of the house.”
The reality is, however, that enough Tory MPs had made it abundantly clear that they were unhappy with the government’s position and were unwilling to back it.
So, to avoid a massive rebellion exposing the depth of anger towards the PM, the government decided to run up the white flag of surrender.
Luckily for the prime minister, he is currently on a trip to India. But even though he is 4,000 miles away, he will know that it is becoming clearer than ever that while he may be in office, he is certainly not in power.